Trailer bearings

[cray]

I just bought my first boat and it needs a little work. I feel the need to have the wheel bearingd repacked before my annual trip to Ely. 1000 mile round trip. My point?

Do I really need to pay a dealership $100 to pack the bearings or can I do it myself. If so how?

[Surface Tension]

I wouldn't trust any trailer on any trip if I didn't know the maintanence last performed on the bearings.

You in your gut feeling feel the same way along with thousands of other Mn fisherman.

Thing is its a simple task and one that could prevent a total vacation meltdown. Still its one of those things some like to avoid.

I've got a post somewhere that goes into detail on how to do a complete bearing job on a trailer.

Give me some time and I'll bring it back.

[Dave]

The job does take some time but relatively simple and inexpensive to do it yourself. Also, there was another post where someone reported basic tire/auto shops wanting only $45 to do it.

[Jeremy airjer W]

Cray check out his post to start. They are not hard to do but they do need to be done right!

Trailer bearing work

[musky hunter]

You don't have to go on a 1000 mile trip to determine how good your bearings are. I fully agree with the repacking advice, especially if you do not know the history. But repacking alone will not fix worn bearings, conversely, there is no need to replace good bearings if they have been properly maintained. The trick is to know which you have. It easy. Take the rig on a short trip at highway speeds, stop, and feel the hubs. There should be little or no heat. As a matter of practice, check the heat each time you launch your boat or stop for gas, etc. Bearings that run cool last and last. The biggest killer of bearings is water in the hubs reducing lubricity and causing corrosion. The result is overheating and early bearing failure.

If they are heating up, especially if you feel something above, say, 120 degrees, it's time to replace bearings.

Bearing buddies, by virtue of their design, keep the bearing grease slightly pressurized so water has almost no chance to enter. So for your peace of mind, I'd also recommend a good set of bearing buddies if you don't have them already.

I recently bought an extremely well maintained used boat and towed it from Janesville, Wisconsin, to Duluth, Mn. The trip took about 7 hours, the air temp was about 38 degrees. The bearings were new and I could detect no warmth in the hubs at all. In the summer, there would likely be some detectable heat but not so much as to cause any discomfort to the touch. This is the condition you want.

[tyho]

This is on my list every spring. Right along with checking the lower end lube, I pull the bearings and check all 4 of them. If they are in good shape I repack them and install them. If they are bad I replace them. With races they are about 18 dollars a set. Cheap peace of mind. You don't want to be one of the guys on the side of the road with smoke rolling out from under your boat.

[fish-n-geek]

I'd recommend buying a bearing packer, too. They are *cheap* and make the job much easier.

-r-

[so haaad]

I just replaced the entire hubs on my trailer as discussed in a previous post by Surface Tension and a few others, and it was a piece of cake and took very little time. If a non-gearhead like myself can do this, anyone can. (My trailer is pretty old and had been sitting outside for years. Everything was shot inside.) I'll start repacking my bearings from here on out, but at least now I know that everything is in good condition right now.

[lawdog]

So,

How was the spindle? If the bearings were real bad and there was gunk and maybe even rust in there I would bet it was on the spindle too and if so I hope you cleaned it off with some fine emery cloth or something or it will just be a mess again. I think the spindle gets overlooked when some folks do the bearings...

[so haaad]

Lawdog, the spindle was in pretty good shape. It definitely needed a good cleaning, but not too bad.

Thanks to all of you who have provided input on this issue in past postings. I now have the tools and knowledge to handle future bearing issues.